Summary
A year has passed since Kei's death. Rui profusely apologizes for continuously blowing off her friends after school and she runs off to where she confessed to him and thinks about the memorial service held in his honor. She felt extreme guilt over knowing he gave his life to protect her, and she spent many days in her bedroom crying.
Rui returns to the school roof while wondering if it's too late to do anything by now. The Hell's Clock has been repaired but the hands have quit moving. Knowing that Kei should be alive, she wishes she never used it.
That evening her mother informs her that the Mizuhara's will be permanently moving to Hokkaido now. They were going to leave Kei's room as is in his honor, but there isn't much point if they will be keeping the home. His mother plans on making a final stop to pick up anything else she might want and she asked that Rui stop by the following day.
At the Mizuhara household the next day, Rui steps into Kei's room and thinks about how often she came over to read manga with him, and how he would offer to help her when she did bad on test, and how they prepared for the Entrance exam and how he would tease her. Overcome with grief, she curls up on the floor and resumes sobbing until she suddenly hears a strange, ticking sound. Rui follows the sound to a nearby drawer, and to her alarm she finds another Hell's Clock!
Rui picks it up and wonders why Kei would have one when she sees the ghost girl from before staring at her. She allows Rui to use it- but she must give up something important. Rui agrees with no hesitation and is taken back in time, to when she confessed for the third time. She is overwhelmed and begins to cry -much to Kei's confusion- and she asks him if he used the Hell's Clock. Kei appears stunned but he quickly denies it until she grabs onto him and demands an explanation. He asks her how she discovered it, then admits to only using it in order to see what their future would be like since he wasn't sure she would be okay without him. He only half-believed the rumor, and finding out it was real surprised him. But he never got the chance to use it because it felt wrong; he is sure Rui will be okay, even if he isn't around anymore because of the faith he has in her.
Remembering the past once more, Rui decides she must do something and gathering her courage, she loudly confesses to him again. She tells him not to respond though, because she already knows how he feels and she is okay with it now, she just wanted him to know how she felt.
Suddenly Yomi -the ghost girl- appears again and she begins to lead a startled Kei away. Rui, shocked by this is reminded of what she agreed in exchange for traveling back to the past. She quickly tries to stop her and Yomi explains that Kei's life will be what she takes away. Rui refuses to let this happen, and she apologizes for being so weak and using the Hell's Clock so many times. Kei steps away from Yomi and confesses that he didn't want her to see such a future like this, he wanted her to be happy, even if he was gone. He doesn't just see her as a friend, but he wanted to leave seeing her as the strong girl he knew she could become. This is why he said what he did when he rejected her, he was trying to think of what was best for her.
Rui weeps and thanks Kei for always staying by her side, and she turns away seeing the fence standing over the hill side. She wants Kei to see her as the strong person he believes she is, even if only for a moment. Rui pleads with Yomi and asks to take her life as compensation as she stands on the fence, and she says goodbye to Kei before allowing herself to fall over it.
Five years have passed since that day.
Kei takes off from school and his friends make conversation about it. They don't understand what happened until one realizes what today is.
Kei stands by the fence where he last saw Rui alive, holding a bouquet of flowers. He observes the hospital within the distance and heads inside, being brought to Rui's room to find that she is still in a coma. Helplessly Kei asks why she won't wake up, even though he's come by every day to see her, as the staff in the hallway remark on how impressive he is for being so persistent. Every day he comes by to speak to her, and it has been exactly five years now since she was in her accident. The staff feel bad for Rui, noting how young she was when it happened.
As Kei observes his lifeless friend, he promises to always wait for her.
Outside of the window, Yomi is shown to be observing them while she speaks to some crows. She asks if it's been long enough yet, then reveals that in order to compensate for not taking Kei away, she took five years off of Rui's precious future.
Suddenly, Rui shifts in her sleep and she grabs Kei's hand. As Kei and the nurses express surprise, Yomi decides to take off and give them their privacy as the two embrace.
Tropes:
- Break the Cutie: Rui spent a year having to live with what happened and desperately tried to fix it.
- Dead Person Conversation: Yomi continues to make occasional appearances through the chapter.
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the form of Driven to Suicide. Rui offers her life to the ghost in order to save Kei. It was her selfless act that caused Yomi to only take a few years off of her life, rather than the entire thing.
- Relationship Upgrade: It's heavily implied at the ending.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Rui is shocked when she discovers that Kei also made a wish to the ghost for the Hell's Clock. However, sacrificing her life resulted in the both of them earning their happy ending together.
